Horse Archer
Horse Archers are Arabian mercenaries that use bows and arrows as their main weapon. Description These versatile fighters are very unique, since they can fire while moving. This ability makes them perfect for harassment, as they can mow down enemy workers and weak patrols without the fear of retreat. In numbers the horse archers can simply dominate the battlefield with their rain of arrows and this way they are a good offensive unit. They have also better fire rate than any troops, while being stationary. While horse archers excel in ranged combat, they are relatively weak in close combat. Even though their melee animation shows them using a small scimitar, they do little damage. They can defeat weaker troops and actually are better at melee than other ranged units however. Still, their low health makes it advisable to keep them away from melee attackers, even the weaker units like spearmen. Crossbow bolts and heavy fire will also kill groups of horse archers in no time. Tactics *Marching armies are favorable targets, since it is very easy to weaken the advancing units. Siege Engines are also vulnerable to concentrated fire. *''Horse archers'' may siege badly defended castles on their own, provided they always have reinforcements. * Horse archers are very good in combination with portable shields. If your opponent have a lot crossbows on towers, you will need a lot of horse archers to kill them which costs a lot of money and at the end it isn't effective. You can make some portable shields which costs only 5 gold + 30 gold for each engineer. With portable shields protecting your horse archers you will need just a 30-40 of them to kill all archers or crossbows your opponent have, that will save a lot of money instead buying hundreds of them. Stronghold 2 In Stronghold 2, the horse archer is more versatile. With even higher fire rate while not moving and very low reaction time, he can take on several unarmored troops without the need of retreat. Crossbowmen and outlaws can be menacing, but the horse archer can simply outrun and out-range them. In addition, they are given the ability to target enemies within range while moving. This eliminates the need to stop to focus fire on targets and provides an even easier micromanagement. Quotes For the quotes of the horse archer, see: Quotes:Horse Archer. Trivia * In Stronghold Crusader, if their stance is set to aggressive, they will charge enemies that are too close with melee attacks. * All the Arabian AI lords in Stronghold Crusader use horse archers apart from the Nizar and Sultan. In addition to this the Wolf, a European lord also uses them (though only for raids). * In Crusader, horse archers have very high reaction time and they do not react at all if they are freshly recruited and not moved away from their rally points. They fire while moving to their assembly point, however. * In Stronghold 2, the horse archer can fight in melee just like in Crusader. However, there are no fighting sprites for him and thus he will be only seen turning to his opponent during close combat. Category:Stronghold Crusader Soldiers Category:Stronghold Crusader Units Category:Units Category:Soldiers Category:Stronghold 2 Units Category:Stronghold 2 Soldiers